Exchanges in Europe also rose modestly at the start, and futures trading indicated that Wall Street would open higher.

Trading on Friday followed a decision by the Chinese government to stop using measures known as circuit breakers that were intended to keep China’s markets from dropping disastrously over the course of a single trading day. The circuit-breaker system, used for the first time on Monday and scrapped Thursday night, was tripped twice this week. Those halts, once activity resumed, seemed to spur nervous investors into broader sell-offs.

On Friday, shares in both Shanghai and Shenzhen rose despite a shaky opening hour, with sharp drops and rises within minutes of each other.

Markets seemed “a little more normal,” said Thomas Gatley, a corporate analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, a financial research company. Of the seesawing early in the morning, Mr. Gatley said, “We think that is in part a bunch of mutual funds who couldn’t liquidate the previous day.”

On Thursday, the circuit breaker was tripped after just 14 minutes. When trading resumed 15 minutes later, the indexes almost immediately fell to the daily limit and trading was halted for the day. Markets were open less than a half-hour that day.

“The removal of the circuit breaker has removed that magnet effect that when things were down 3 percent, there was the other risk that everyone got stuck,” Mr. Gatley added.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission also extended a ban on sales by major shareholders, which had been set to expire on Friday. Some feared the sell-off was in part prompted when those with smaller holdings sold before the bigger shareholders did.

Stocks opened higher on Friday morning in China, but in the early volatility, a quick sell-off within 30 minutes was followed by another increase by midmorning. Shares continued to rise after lunch, and by the close of trading, the CSI 300 blue-chip index was up about 2 percent. The Shanghai composite index finished nearly 2 percent higher, while the Shenzhen composite index, which had been down as much as 4 percent, ended 1.2 percent higher.

Hao Hong, the chief market strategist at Bank of Communications International, noted that funds had been forced to sell at the open as investors pulled out their money. He added that it also seemed likely that the so-called national team of state-influenced brokerage firms had been pushed to shore up the markets.

Video

Chinese investors are figuring out how to respond to market turmoil in China this week that caused trading to be halted.Published OnJan. 8, 2016CreditImage by Wang Zhao/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

On Friday morning, the country’s central bank slightly raised the trading range for the renminbi and strengthened the currency, whose depreciation in the preceding three weeks had stoked concerns among investors. It was set at 6.5636 renminbi to the dollar, compared with 6.5646 on Thursday. It remains near its weakest point since early 2011.

“It certainly helped to stabilize sentiment today,” said Mitul Kotecha, head of Asia foreign exchange and rates strategy for Barclays. “There were major concerns that China would continue to weaken the fixings.”

The Chinese government has been allowing the value of the renminbi to decline steadily, which could bolster exports and growth. But the movement has also unsettled investors and pushed money out of the country.

Although the shift on Friday was slight, it still provided a sense of respite, Mr. Kotecha said.

“When you have several days of weaker fixings, markets are fearing the worst,” he said. “To have a break is a calming factor.”

The aftershocks of Thursday’s plunge rippled through global markets. The S.&P. 500 ended the day on Thursday down 2.3 percent, while the Euro Stoxx 50 finished 1.7 percent lower.

In the early afternoon on Friday, the Euro Stoxx 50 was flat, and the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.5 percent.

Markets were mixed in Asia and Australia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished down almost 0.4 percent. The S.&P./ASX 200 in Australia closed down nearly 0.4 percent after spending most of the day down, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended up 0.6 percent.

Although the Chinese markets looked a little more stable on Friday, Mr. Gatley, the corporate analyst, said he expected more volatility, noting that valuations were pretty high.

“The other thing you can’t write out is more policy missteps from C.S.R.C. and more anticorruption probes, which are profoundly destabilizing,” he added.

Mr. Hong at the Bank of Communications was similarly apprehensive.

“We have a small reprieve,” he said. “I wouldn’t be jumping for joy. The fundamentals are still weak. Valuations are still high.”

“The stock market is starting to reflect what is really going on in the economy,” he added.